Chapter 1

Vocabulary

1. Marilyn closes her eyes. Maybe, when she opens them, Lydia will be there, covers pulled over her head as usual, wisps of hair trailing from beneath.

wisp: a handful or small bundle of straw, hay or the like.

仿写：She turned away from the book, tiny wisps of hair escaping from her ponytail.

trail: to hang down loosely from something; to move or walk slowly; to be drawn or dragged along the ground or some other surface.

仿写：A group of students trailed behind her.

2. She replaces the phone number on the board, her damp fingers smudging the ink so that the digits blur as if in a strong wind, or underwater.

smudge: to mark with dirty streaks or smears; to blur something in a messy way.

仿写：He learnt to paint her nails, trying not to smudge her tiny toes.

3. Now Marilyn's mind begins to churn.

churn: to be changing rapidly or be in a confused state.

仿写：He didn't reply, conflicted emotions churning beneath the surface.

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Notes

四月和五月分别读完Being Mortal 和A Thousand Splendid Suns，六月就迫不及待得打开了这本好多booktuber倾心推荐过的治愈小说。虽然读原著已经不感到陌生了，但精读的效果在对单词的仔细学习过程中渐渐体现出来。每章不认识的或者认识但不知其多义的单词要远多于三五个，但精挑细选出的这几个更让我有动力把学单词这件看起来费力又繁琐的事情坚持下去。

首先，辨别词义。英英词典里对一个单词的解释经常包含多种词性和词义，我会大概浏览一遍，然后选出这个词在文中句子对应的含义，记录下来，再仿造例句造句。这个过程看起来简单，但这几分钟的学习时间比单纯找到单词中文并且抄写三遍的记单词方式要有效得多。

其次，品味。很多时候，在阅读文章的过程中，我从母语使用者对精准用词的把握获得了很大的享受。也渐渐明白，对人和事物的生动描述很多时候不是靠形容词来堆砌，打动人的语言很可能是最简单而准确的动词和名词。比如对母亲Marilyn表现出焦躁的心理描写，作者用到on edge还不够，又提到每次冰箱压缩机启动和结束发出的声响都令她震惊。看到这里，我会立刻想起自己也有过这些时刻：

His mother is already on edge, startling every time the refrigerator motor kicks on or off.